When cars, vans, pickup trucks etc. are placed on the ramps of a car hauler trailer and on the head ramp of the tractor that pulls the car hauler trailer, tie down chains are connected to the frame of each car, etc. adjacent each wheel of the car, and tension is applied to the chains so as to hold the car on the ramp and to reduce the weight of the car with respect to the ramp. The tension is usually applied by winding each tie down chain about a shaft.
In the past, tie down assemblies for car haulers and the like have included structures that comprise a sleeve mounted on or in the tracks of the ramp and a rotatable shaft extending through the sleeve. A ratchet and pawl allowed the shaft to rotate in one direction while preventing the shaft from rotating in the other direction, and the shaft included an enlarged head with sockets extending therethrough so that an operator could insert a tool through the sockets and crank or otherwise rotate the shaft. One end of the tie down chain was connected to the frame of a car and the other end was connected to the tie down shaft and the rotation of the shaft wound the chain about the shaft and effectively shortened the length of the chain to tie down the car.
While the prior art tie down assemblies for car haulers etc. have been functionally successful in that they securely tie down the vehicles carried by the car hauler trailer, substantial accident hazards are present with the prior art tie down assemblies. For example, when the cars, etc. are to be removed from the car hauler trailer, the operator usually cranks the crank shaft a little tighter so as to release the pawl from the ratchet and then attempts to unwind the crank shaft to progressively unreel the tie down chain. The operator must use one hand to crank the tie down shaft and the other hand to manipulate the pawl. In many instances the strength of the operator is insufficient to control the rotational movement of the crank shaft, whereupon his crank tool is flailed about by the rapid rotation of the crank shaft, causing injury to the operator. Also, it is difficult to control the position of the pawl, and occasionally the operator's thumb or fingers are caught between the ratchet and pawl.